Barbara Beatrice (Lopaus) Leslie

Barbara Beatrice Lopaus Leslie of Cramerton, NC, age 91, went home to be with the Lord 6 May 2018. Barbara was born on 4 Sep 1926 in Braintree, MA to R. Chester and Beatrice Palmer Porter Lopaus. She was the eldest of three children. Preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Roy Chester Lopaus, Jr. and her beloved husband, Herbert Henry Leslie, Jr., her son, Richard Merrill Leslie and her great grandson, Liam Kyle McNamara.

Barbara was a 1944 graduate of Weymouth High School in Weymouth, MA; a 1947 graduate of New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, Boston, MA. She was very proud of her nursing education and career.  She was a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II and after retirement, was a very active volunteer at Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, NH until she moved to Cramerton, NC to reside in an assisted living facility to be near her daughter, Linda. She was a lifelong member of Episcopal churches in MA and NH.

Barbara was a very accomplished pianist taking lessons as a young child through high school and performing on the piano while being a member of the Rainbow Girls, Eastern Star, and the Tuftonboro, NH Grange. She had such joy playing the piano and organ for others.

Barbara and Herbert met in grammar school in Weymouth and she would always say she loved him from the very start. They raised their family in Weymouth and New Bedford, MA until they retired to the “house on the hill” in Melvin Village, NH where they also had summered each year at Lane’s End campground.

Barbara loved her new home in Cramerton and was an active participant in the assisted living facility delivering mail, visiting residents, playing the piano for the residents and loving on all she came in contact with, residents and staff alike.

Barbara was a very vivacious person who loved people, her family and life. She is survived by her children: Linda Leslie Bergeron (Ron) of Belmont, NC, Patricia Leslie Balog (Nick)of Brentwood, TN, and Raymond Clark Leslie of Northport, FL; grandchildren: Michelle Leslie McNamara (Kyle) of Gastonia, NC, Brian Ronald Bergeron (Tara) of Matthews, NC, Zachariah Merrill Leslie (Christen) of Meredith, NH, Sara Christine Balog of Brentwood, TN, Andrew Richard Balog of Chattanooga, TN, Jordan Mae Leslie of Venice, FL, and Morghan Morrison of Tuftonboro, NH; great grandchildren: Emma Louise McNamara, Lily Beatrice McNamara, Grace Linde McNamara, Chloë Michelle McNamara, Luke Pallmann, and Luna Santamarina; a brother, David Porter Lopaus (Claire) of South Yarmouth, MA and nephew, David Peter Lopaus of Braintree, MA.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial donation may be made in Barbara’s name to the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Gaston County, NC, 700 Robinson Road, Gastonia, NC 28056

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